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Apr 17, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Washington Nationals hats and gloves in the dugout against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the sixth inning at PNC Park. Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Nationals Provide Injury Updates On Former All-Star and Top Prospect

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Sean O'Leary | Last updated Aug 19, 2025 7:48 PM ET

The season has not gone as the Washington Nationals hoped it would.

Before the year, there was excitement around the young core of James Wood, CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore and Dylan Crews. Although Crews hasn't found his footing, the players who were the return for Juan Soto have all been All-Stars.

The Nationals brought in Nathaniel Lowe as one of their veteran bats this winter, but many of those offseason additions have been moved on from, either by release or trade deadline moves. There are a myriad of reasons for their poor performance, but the main one is a lack of pitching behind Gore.

Two young pitchers who have excited the fans in Washington at one point or another, Josiah Gray and Travis Sykora, hope to be parts of the rebuild in the nation's capital at some point or another.
On Tuesday, Andrew Golden of the Washington Post provided injury updates for the two right-handers.

Josiah Gray Threw for the First Time

Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

Gray was one of the main pieces the Nationals got in return for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner in the 2021 trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. A former top 100 prospect, Gray was seen as a future fixture in the rotation for years to come.

Coming off an All-Star season in 2023, the right-hander looked to build on that momentum in 2024, but his season was cut short after two starts. After giving up 13 runs in 8.1 innings, Gray was put on the 15-day injured list. After trying to rehab over the next few months, Gray was transferred to the 60-day in July and underwent Tommy John surgery.

Getting him back will be huge for the outlook of this rotation, and on Tuesday, Gray threw live batting practice in West Palm Beach for the first time all year, according to Golden's update. That signals he is on track to rehab, although no timetable has been given.

Gray's first full season as a National was disastrous, posting a 5.02 ERA and leading the league in both walks and home runs. The hope is that the now-27-year-old can get back to his 2023 form where he had a 3.1 bWAR to back up Gore in the future.

Travis Sykora’s Tommy John Surgery Is Set

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The update from Golden also included the news that Sykora, the Nationals top-ranked pitching prospect, will undergo Tommy John surgery on Wednesday. The news of his injury and need for surgery was announced on July 28.

Sykora was moving through Washington's system at hyperspeed. In just his second season in the minors, the 21-year-old had already reached Double-A just two years after being drafted in the third round.

It was deserving, as the right-hander had been downright dominant through 12 starts in 2025. In 45.1 innings, Sykora has posted a 1.79 ERA with 79 strikeouts, a 15.7 K/9. Last season, he spent the entire year at Single-A where in 85 innings, he struck out 129 batters and posted a 2.33 ERA.

In the latest update by MLB Pipeline, the high-ceiling pitcher is the No. 46-ranked prospect in baseball, the No. 8 right-handed pitcher and the Nationals' second best prospect.

There is no timetable for when Sykora will begin his rehab.